Using Hierarchies in Design Studio Charts

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ChartsPLUS is an add-on for SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio which enhances the visualization capabilities of Design Studio.

In this blog we look at some of the key features provided in ChartsPLUS for supporting hierarchies:

• Ignore root node: While using hierarchies within charts you often do not want the root level nodes or the total nodes to be displayed on the Charts as this would not give an accurate view.  ChartsPLUS provide the option to ignore the root level node, in the example below only the Regions are plotted on the charts and not the root level node.
  

• Select Hierarchy Level:  ChartsPLUS allows you to select the level of the hierarchy which needs to be displayed in the Chart, this gives you the flexibility to re-use existing datasources within the charts and select the hierarchy level required for the charts.  You can also select to display all Level 3 nodes or all Country nodes etc. in the chart without having to create flattened dimension in the backend data model.

          In the example below you can see how a single datasource can be used to create  multiple charts using the Hierarchy Level selection option (Level 1 = Region, Level 2 = Country, Level 3 = Profit Center).

• Hierarchy based drilldown:  ChartsPLUS provides the option to "Expand Hierarchy nodes" and also "Filter and drilldown on Hierarchy", both the options can be done without the need for any custom script.

• Expand Hierarchy:  This option can be used for expanding a hierarchy node within a chart. This is useful while analyzing income statement or balance sheets on a chart. In the example below you can expand the hierarchy node "Sales revenue" by clicking on the chart label, the chart on the right hand side is displayed with the expanded hierarchy nodes. The hierarchy expand feature is also configurable at chart design time and no scripting is required for this.
  

• Filter and Drilldown: Provides the ability to Filter and Drilldown within the charts, only the next level nodes are displayed when you filter and drilldown.  You can enable this feature by selecting “Filter Data on Drill” within the advanced property sheet of ChartsPLUS, there is no coding required to drilldown on hierarchies within Charts. This feature is useful while navigating a Geographical or Organizational hierarchies.

You can also filter other datasources based on the selection made in the chart using the hierarchy events for the charts. There are 2 events available  during the Chart hierarchy operations which can be used for writing custom script for filtering datasources or changing the state of other components available within the application:

1. On Hierarchy Collapse: This event can be used for carrying out any datasource operations while collapsing a hierarchy.
   
2. On Hierarchy Expand: This event can be used for carrying out other datasource operations while drilling down on charts. For example you can pass hierarchy filters to other datasources and filter components used within your Design Studio application.  To filter another datasource you can use the code below where the API getSelectedNodeKey() would return the value for the current selected node in the chart.

                        DS_2.setFilter("0PROFIT_CTR", CHARTSPLUS2_2.getSelectedNodeKey());

You can use the link below to learn more about ChartsPLUS or to request a free trial. http://archius.com/products/chartsplus-for-sap-businessobjects-design-studio/